Korean 2-set keyboard (dubeolsik)

On the standard Korean keyboard every consonant is typed by the left hand, and every vowel except ㅠ by the right.

Here is a made-up scene. A learner of Korean types her first message to her host family: ㅎ, ㅏ, ㄴ. The screen shows one tidy block, "han". She types ㅏ, and the ㄴ jumps out of that block into a new one, so the line now reads "ha-na". She assumes the keyboard has a bug. It doesn't. Korean is written in Hangul, and its letters, called jamo, are grouped into square syllable blocks. You type the jamo one at a time, in the order you say them, and the computer builds the blocks as you go. It keeps the last block open, because the next key might still belong to it.

Consonants on the left, vowels on the right, and one exception

The standard layout in South Korea is called dubeolsik, "two sets", because the jamo are split into two sets on the keyboard. It became the national standard in 1982 as the layout for information-processing keyboards, then numbered KS C 5715 and now KS X 5002. Consonants sit on the left side and vowels on the right. The home row reads ㅁ ㄴ ㅇ ㄹ ㅎ on A S D F G and ㅗ ㅓ ㅏ ㅣ on H J K L. The top row has ㅂ ㅈ ㄷ ㄱ ㅅ and ㅛ ㅕ ㅑ ㅐ ㅔ, and the bottom row ㅋ ㅌ ㅊ ㅍ and ㅠ ㅜ ㅡ. The finger chart is the same as for English, so ㄹ is the left index finger's home key on F and ㅓ the right index finger's on J. There is one catch. ㅠ sits on B, and B belongs to the left index finger, so ㅠ is the one vowel typed by the left hand.

Shift for ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ and ㅒ ㅖ

Five doubled consonants, ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ, and two vowels, ㅒ and ㅖ, have no keys of their own. You type them with Shift: Shift and ㄱ gives ㄲ, Shift and ㅐ gives ㅒ. The standard records this as the recommended way rather than a strict rule, and many input programs also accept ㄱ typed twice for ㄲ in some positions. The opposite-hand Shift rule from the English units helps here as well. ㄲ is a left-hand key, so the right little finger holds the right Shift; for ㅒ, hold the left Shift.

Watching a block grow

The figure replays the scene from the top of this page. Type ㅎ and then ㅏ, and you see "ha". Add ㄴ and the block becomes "han". Type ㅏ again and the ㄴ moves out to start a new block, giving "ha-na", two blocks. That is why the last letter on the screen sometimes changes when you type the next one. Compound vowels take two keys: ㅘ is ㅗ then ㅏ, ㅝ is ㅜ then ㅓ, and ㅢ is ㅡ then ㅣ. Compound final consonants take two keys as well, so ㄺ is ㄹ then ㄱ.

Counting tasu one keystroke at a time

Korean typing speed is usually given as tasu, keystrokes per minute. This course counts the keys needed to type the correct text on dubeolsik. Each simple jamo is one key. A compound vowel or compound final consonant is two. A doubled consonant typed with Shift is one, since Shift itself is not counted, and a space or punctuation mark is one. The word for Korea, "daehanminguk", is ㄷㅐ + ㅎㅏㄴ + ㅁㅣㄴ + ㄱㅜㄱ, 11 keys. The greeting "annyeonghaseyo" is ㅇㅏㄴ + ㄴㅕㅇ + ㅎㅏ + ㅅㅔ + ㅇㅛ, 12 keys. Typing 600 keys in two minutes is 300 tasu. Other typing programs may count Shift or a few cases differently, so compare numbers only from the same program.

Practising without switching input languages

The practice keyboard below starts in Korean 2-set mode. It reads your keys by position, so it works even if your computer is set to English input; the key under your left index finger types ㄹ either way. Start with the home row lesson, which uses only ㅁ ㄴ ㅇ ㄹ ㅎ and ㅗ ㅓ ㅏ ㅣ, then the top and bottom rows, then the doubled consonants with Shift, and finish with whole sentences. Watch the underlined block in the typed line: it is the syllable that is still open. You can switch back to English QWERTY from the first menu.